


stay a minute longer

by londer



Category: A Crown of Candy - Fandom, Dimension 20
Genre: Campaign 05: A Crown of Candy, D20 Treat, Establishing Relationship, Getting Together, M/M, Sharing a Bed, Walk of shame?? i guess??, this one is weird to tag idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:27:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25653607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/londer/pseuds/londer
Summary: Amethar wakes when the warmth of Theo’s body has faded. He rolls on his back and blinks blearily at the embossed ceiling of the king’s bedchambers and pats his hands along the rest of the bed looking for Theo. The sheets are still a little dented from his body, but the blankets have been neatly folded back into place on the left side of the bed. Amethar heaves himself up to sit against the pillows and surveys his quarters.There’s no note, no remaining clothing left from the mess Amethar knows was strewn across the floor the previous evening. Just a quiet empty room with him alone.
Relationships: Theobald Gumbar/Amethar Rocks
Comments: 7
Kudos: 37
Collections: Dimension 20 Fic Exchange 2020





	stay a minute longer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [littleboxes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleboxes/gifts).



> For the prompt: theo/amethar; just anything with the two of them tiptoeing around romantic tension; im okay with either them getting together happily in an au or staying apart because of canon arranged marriages, honestly just anything with the two of them. nothing explicit/past kissing

Amethar wakes when the warmth of Theo’s body has faded. He rolls on his back and blinks blearily at the embossed ceiling of the king’s bedchambers and pats his hands along the rest of the bed looking for Theo. The sheets are still a little dented from his body, but the blankets have been neatly folded back into place on the left side of the bed. Amethar heaves himself up to sit against the pillows and surveys his quarters. 

There’s no note, no remaining clothing left from the mess Amethar knows was strewn across the floor the previous evening. Just a quiet empty room with him alone. 

/

Amethar wakes a little quicker this time because Theo stubs a toe while trying to pull his boots on and grunts in pain. He jerks up in the bed to watch as Theo collects his things without looking at Amethar. There’s something dark and wet in Amethar’s stomach at how Theo will not acknowledge him. 

“Theo,” he begins, but Theo cuts him off on his way to the secret door in the paneled wall. 

“Apologies for waking you, my king. I’ll take my leave now.” And then he’s gone, door clicking shut firmly behind him. 

/

Amethar wakes before Theo and watches him sleep for a short while. His lover’s face is smooth and slack, his mustache unkempt and bristling. Theo never looks this relaxed in his waking hours, and he takes the opportunity to smooth Theo's soft hair back away from his face. Amethar binds the memory of his cleared face into the tightest part of his heart before burrowing back beneath the blankets and sinking back into sleep. 

When he wakes again, the bed is empty and Theo is gone.

/

“Stay?” Amethar asks, and Theo only pauses briefly in buckling his belt before shaking his head. 

“The watch shifts are changing soon, I can best blend in if I go now.” He kisses Amethar before he leaves through the secret exit, but it’s a hollow victory. Theo should not have to mesh with the normal ebb and flow of the castle guard’s comings and goings. He should be known as the King’s beloved, should be permitted long mornings spent curled up in bed together, and although he may have stolen Amethar’s heart Theo should not have to sneak to and from these rooms like a thief in the night. 

Caramelinda, asleep in the queen’s quarters, holds the title of  _ heart of the realm _ , but it is Theo who truly has Amethar’s heart. 

/

“Stay,” he says, and Theo stops, because this is not a question, but an order from his king. Amethar backtracks. “If you really must go, then go. But I would have you stay.”

"I have my duties to attend to," Theo says, and he looks resolutely at the wall. Amethar admires his profile and notes the ways his ears twitch and a purple flush creeps into his cheeks. "And you have yours, my king." He leaves and Amethar's heart thuds dully inside his ribcage. 

/

Amethar wakes to a kiss. Theo is fully dressed already and is standing beside the bed. He looks terribly embarrassed and guilty when he realizes Amethar's caught him, and quickly attempts to withdraw. Amethar catches his hand as he retreats, and runs a thumb over Theo's knuckles. Theo doesn't say anything, just shakes his head, drops Amethar's hand, and takes his leave. 

/

He catches Theo extricating himself from Amethar's arms and clings tighter. "Stay," he says. Amethar can feel the tension and indecision running through Theo's body even as he moves away to sit on the side of the bed. "Please, just this once. For me." It's selfish, it's so, so selfish, but Amethar is sick of the rotting feeling in the pit of his stomach that burns every time Theo leaves his chambers without a morning spent together or at least a proper good-bye. 

"The servants-" 

"Are already talking. Half the castle knows, Theo." Theo looks sick and Amethar feels terrible, but it's true and Theo needs to face that truth at some point. It's written across Amethar's face every time he looks at Theo, it's the way the halls are always clear of guards and servants when they make their way to the king's bedchambers together, it's how Caramelinda had laughed so hard she fell out of her chair when she noticed the hickey on Amethar's collarbone the day after this all began. "Nobody cares, Theo. Come back to bed." 

"I care," Theo says, and his voice is low and miserable. "I care what they must think of me for-for this." He doesn't say it but it's written in the tension in his back and shoulders, what he thinks the castle must be saying: king's whore, power-grubber, home wrecker. Maybe some of them are, but most of the court and staff are happy to turn a blind eye to the personal dealings of the royal family. 

"Theo." Amethar grabs him by the shoulders and wrestles him back into his bed (their bed, but not really, not yet). "I love you. I don't care what anybody thinks." 

Theo blinks up at him in surprise, which is probably the only reason Amethar's able to keep him where he is. "You love me?" 

Oops. He had intended for this to be done with a little more grandeur. "Yes, I love you. If anyone says anything, I'll dangle them over the edge of the castle wall until they piss and shit themselves and apologize." There are tears welling in the corners of Theo's eyes, and Amethar has really extinguished his emotional capacity for today, so he deflects by rolling off Theo and curling around him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. "Come back to bed." 

Theo stays, and Amethar's stomach is full of butterflies and light. 


End file.
